What's your afternoon/evening schedule like?

My Best Self

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 2:15 pm

I'm trying to streamline my evening with the kids. The younger ones come home at 3:15 and older at 4:15 with a whole night ahead of supper, bath, hw, bed... then my clean up and catching up with dh. I wish I could get to bed earlier but the tasks don't seem to end.

I am a sahm and Dh comes home between 7 and 8. He helps the minute he walks through the door, but so much of the smooth running depends on me.

I am very organized with lists and tasks but struggle with time management, I know it sounds weird, people think I am super on top of everything. I would love to hear how other moms manage their time and nighttime routine.

emee2

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 2:35 pm

My little kids come home at 4:00-

We do bathroom, unpack bags and free play until 4:30. Then homework for my 7 year old
5:00 Dinner
5:30 Baths/ PJs (teenagers come home)
Brush teeth
Read a story
6:30 Tucked in bed (preschoolers)
6:30-7:30 cleanup spend time talking to older kids
7:30 bedtime routine with my 7 year old
8:00 pm he is in bed
8:00-10:00 is personal time

teachkids

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 2:37 pm

I walk in at 4:15 with my kids. Quickly prepare dinner while they play. Serve dinner 5ish. Then they play while my husband and I eat dinner at 6. Then he's in charge of them while I clean up until 7:30 when we start the bedtime routine

mha3484

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 2:49 pm

I have one that comes home at 2, two come home at 4 and one comes home 4:45. If I get to work on time and have no stops after work I am home by a little after 5. DH is home with them. Also I may do one task like giving showers while my husband does homework with another or my 7th grader will do homework with my 1st grader. There is a ton of multi tasking in the time slots.

Monday and Tuesday, two of them have chavrusos so there's a lot of in and out those nights. Also less homework if said kid did with his chavrusa.

But the basic schedule is

5-7 Make dinner/warm up dinner/ eat/ clean up.

7-8 Showers/Homework/Pajamas and bedtime for the under 5 crowd.

8-9 Bed time for the 7-9 year old's. This usually includes listening to a story talking about their day.

9-10 Light cleaning like folding laundry. Talk to oldest who goes to bed at 10. Relax. Try to go to sleep by 11.

I front load a lot of cleaning for the weekend. I really really try not to have a lot to do on weeknights besides for a few loads of laundry, cleaning up from dinner. My kids and I will do toys together while we chat. But the more labor intensive chores I really save for motzei shabbos or Sunday.

lfab

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 2:55 pm

My kids get home pretty late, they all get home at about 5.
5:00- serve dinner right when they walk in the door, they come home famished. While kids atre eating I start prepping their lunch/snacks for the next day.
5:30/5:45- do homework with 7 and 9 year old while trying to prevent 3 year old from destroying house.
6:15ish- bath 3 year old, have 7 year old take a shower. While 7b year old showers I finish helping 9 year old with any additional homework and finish prepping their lunches.
7:00-DH gets home right about 7 as I'm putting 2 youngest to bed.
7:15ish-DH and I sit down to eat dinner
7:45ish-I clean up from dinner/clean up the kitchen while DH finishes up some work. Send 9 year old to shower/ get ready for bed.
8:30-9 year old goes to bed, DH goes out to learn and daven while I help older kids with any hoemwork/studying they need help with, clean up other parts of the house.
10:30-send teens to bed (not that they usually listen) relax a little, then head to bed.

5-8 are very hectic busy hours. I wish I had an extra set of adult hands to help me but it is what it is. After that I'm busy cleaning up etc but things start to calm down a little.

momof2+?

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 2:58 pm

emee2 wrote:

You have personal time from 8-10 with teenagers home?! How does that work out? Are you in your room?

lfab

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 3:13 pm

momof2+? wrote:

You have personal time from 8-10 with teenagers home?! How does that work out? Are you in your room?

Lol! I was wondering the same thing?! My teens are up and in the main living areas until at least 10:30/11. They're doing homework, making their lunch for school the next day, laughing, talking, being loud and hyper and just generally getting in the way as in try to get stuff done. Inevitably one of them always needs something from me. Usually by 10:30/11 I tell them I need a break and they need to go upstairs or I go into my room and tell them I'm no longer available for the night.

mha3484

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 3:23 pm

If your teens are boys they go back to night seder and you get a quiet house at 8pm. When my 13 year old was in 5th and 6th grade, he went to learn after dinner from 7:30-9 approx. but decided he doesn't like the new people who took over and doesn't want to go anymore.

emee2

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 3:29 pm

momof2+? wrote:

You have personal time from 8-10 with teenagers home?! How does that work out? Are you in your room?

It was more theoretical 🤣. Like this is the time when I can squeeze in personal time. So last night I went to a shiur in that time block. Sometimes that time is used helping my teenagers with homework or shmoozing etc but in general I try to have all my house work done and little ones in bed by then.

emee2

Tue, Jan 16 2024, 3:31 pm

lfab wrote:

We have lights out at 10:15 and they hand their phones in then so it’s pretty quiet for me at that point. But even before then, they tend to be more in their rooms than in the main areas.